2. Never Tear Us Apart

-can i buy you a drink?-

A couple of hours later, the door was opened, waking up Daryl and Theo with a fright.

"You alright?" Daryl instantly panicked, making sure she was okay before focusing on anything else around him

She nodded, calming him.

They both stood to see a random stranger with his hands up in surrender, his face was covered in panic.

"Rick, this is Aaron, he has a camp", Sasha explained, looking at a concerned Rick, who was ready to pounce any minute.

"We took his weapons and gear, " Maggie continued, but Daryl still patted him down.

"Hi, I am here because we don't have a camp; we have a gated community." Aaron began, looking around at everyone who was filled with worry.

"A community?" Theo spoke up, walking forward beside her father.

"Sasha, would you give Rick my bag please?" he asked politely, not leaving Ricks's eyes.

She walked over and handed it to him,

"In the front pocket is an envelope; inside are photos, though I must apologise as the camera we found does not print good quality." Aaron smiled, a small laugh leaving his lips.

"No one cares, man." Daryl and Theo spoke at the same time. The group looked at the two of them, confused about how they did that, but then their focus instantly returned to the stranger in front of them.

"You're right, you're right," Aaron nodded.

"We have walls, made of steel, food, water and most importantly, people", Aaron continued.

However, Rick didn't want to hear it. Instead, he stormed over, punching Aaron in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Tie him up", Rick demanded, turning his back to the man.

"Is it necessary?" Theo asked, sighing.

"You believe him?" Rick asked as he looked at his daughter annoyed. 

"Not yet, but if you had let the damn man finish, maybe we would know a little more" Theo snapped, she was tired, fed up.

After a few minutes, Carl cleared his bag, and Aaron had woken up.

Theo ignored everything and instead looked outside.

"How many people have you got?" Theo asked, walking over, keeping her voice low.

"Does it matter?" He replied, shrugging, looking madly over at Rick.

"Yeah. It does," Rick answered as the two stood side by side.

"It doesn't matter how many I say—10, 45, 444, none. You're not going to believe me," Aaron argued. He just wanted to help these people.

Theo walked over and knelt to meet the man.

She looked him in the eyes, grabbing her gun.

"You want me to point it at your head, or will you save me the energy and just answer?" She asked. She had lost all her patience. This could be their chance to have a place to call home, and she wasn't about to throw that out the window.

As she did this, Daryl carefully watched her.

Was she too far gone?

Or was this making the group and him stronger?

"One," Aaron answered, allowing Theo to stand.

"Groups of 2, I want people watching all the time," Rick ordered as people began to move out.